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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29490609">the business of keeping promises</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sintharius/pseuds/Sintharius'>Sintharius</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Warframe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:07:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>943</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29490609</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sintharius/pseuds/Sintharius</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>These days you work the canal with few memories of who you were. And I'm in the business of keeping promises. -Ticker</p><p>Digital Valentine entry for Warframe's Love of Star Days 2021 contest.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the business of keeping promises</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Special thanks to TheMadman for proof reading.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Star Days. An invitation to spread love.</p><p>Tenno of all shapes and sizes flood the halls of Fortuna. Colorful wings – said to be the symbol of an old god of love, lost to time with the fall of the Orokin Empire – adorn the backs of many. Shades of red and pink dominate the crowd, lighting up the feeling of love in the air.</p><p>
  <em>Love spreads, Stardust. Sow it far and wide and fortune will favor you.</em>
</p><p>Ticker spots her in the crowd and waves a greeting. She nudges her way through the throng of Tenno towards the store, coming to a stop in front of the Solaris worker.</p><p>“Starrrrdust! You made it! It would not do to stand Ticker up on THIS of all days. Your big day.” Ticker’s grip is firm through the warframe’s sword-steel skin, warm and carrying a hint of familiarity. “Help Ticker spread some love.” And the Solaris turns back to her wares, distracted by another Tenno waiting to make a purchase.</p><p>She’s flipping through a catalogue of glyphs when something catches her attention. Ticker’s voice.</p><p>"'Star Day' is a Ticker tradition... begun for just one special person. Now... I give it to the world. If you want to know the <a href="https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/Fragments/Solaris_United">story</a>, you'll find it scattered across the <a href="https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/Orb_Vallis">Vallis</a>. Today is too happy a day to tell it."</p><p>She turns only to see Ticker speaking to yet another Tenno, her voice ringing over the chatter from Fortuna workers below. But she can hear the sadness tingling the Solaris’ voice over the mention of her lover.</p><p> </p><p>-<em>I’d smile and I’d agree and then I’d go back to my hab… And say your name-</em></p><p> </p><p>The Tenno knows of the story.</p><p>Of the lover, stolen twice by the rich corporate. </p><p>Of the broker, seeking to save others from a fate worse than death.</p><p> </p><p>-<em>Like summoning a ghost-</em></p><p> </p><p>“Lovely thing, that one. Interested in giving one a new home, Stardust?”</p><p>She leaves Ticker’s shop with lighter pockets. The Ticker floof sits innocently in her arms, so light in its creation… and yet so heavy with feelings.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Coolant splatters on her boots and armor as she trudges deeper into the coolant canal, her footsteps masked by the rhythmic banging noise of metal on metal. She holds the floof up close to her chest.</p><p>The Tenno knows that person. A recent database scraping run from Eudico had made sure she remembered it, burned it into her memory with blood and plasma.</p><p>A name. Cold numbers of massive debts. Estimated value of body parts.</p><p>Repossession.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>-Your first body quartered and sold. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Your beautiful mind, taken from me, locked far away, and ransomed-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Years of Ticker’s constant attempts at paying off the debts. Paycheck after paycheck, then when the interests mounted up too high for any person to pay off with wages alone… she sold her body. Every bit of flesh and blood, taken and sold to the taxmen to try and save her beloved.</p><p> </p><p>-<em>But you weren’t you. </em></p><p>
  <em>Not anymore-</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>The last entry detailed their name, current body, and occupation. Under it was a note.</p><p>
  <em>Subject released from repossession. Recorded memory loss has minimal effects on work performance.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>There. A lone Solaris worker in a shadowed corner, working away at one of the coolant pumps.</p><p>The worker pauses as she walks over, their wrench clanging loudly on the metal floor as it comes to a halt. “Hey old mate. Whatcha want to see this cove for?”</p><p>Something inside her twitches uncomfortably at the blank stare in their eyes - that feeling of emptiness inside. She holds out the floof at them, unsure of what to do.</p><p>“You sure?” Their hand waves back and forth, seemingly confused. “This… this is for me?”</p><p>She nods. The worker hesitates, before finally picking up the stuffed doll from the warframe’s hands. Their eyes scan the little item as they examine it, and she waits for a spark of recognition, anything-</p><p>But nothing happens.</p><p>There is no salvation for this Solaris, whose memories, identity, feelings were taken by the Taxmen. And she knows that. And yet, somewhere deep inside, she secretly hoped that a vestige of something might have remained, escaped the void of brain-shelving.</p><p>
  <em>Ticker deserved better.</em>
</p><p>“I… I don’t know what to say.” Their voice breaks. “I’ve never really cared for gifts, but… thank you.”</p><p>She bows – a final farewell to hope, perhaps – and turns to leave.</p><p>
  <em>At least it was worth a try.</em>
</p><p>And there’s a hand on her shoulder. She stiffens briefly, before remembering that she’s in Fortuna and there’s no threat.</p><p>It’s the Solaris worker. “Tenno. I have nothing to my name, but… please take this.” Something solid is deposited into her hand.</p><p>It’s a chunk of amarast vaguely in the shape of a star. Its edges are crude, as if someone had taken a blunt instrument to the mineral. She does not doubt that the Solaris must have taken the time to make it themself, using their tools to chip away bit by bit at the gem.</p><p>“…I don’t know why I made this. When I’m at my rack and not thinking about anything… something in my drive would tell me to do this. Tugging on me, like I’m forgetting something I shouldn’t have.” They shrug. “I think you would appreciate this more than me, old mate.”</p><p>Her fingers close over the stone, cold yet warmer than ever.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Sat so long on the Taxman's shelf, you barely knew who you were. And you certainly didn't know me. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The goodbyes I said decades earlier... they stuck. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>These days you work the canal with few memories of who you were. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>And I'm in the business of keeping promises.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>#TickerDeservesBetter</p></blockquote></div></div>
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